


Girl Meets Between The Lines

by Monica_Rambeau



Series: Rilaya-verse [1]
Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Canon Compliant, Episode: s03e21 Girl Meets Goodbye, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Rilaya, Rucas (temporary), seriously though, super fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-02 00:13:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10204142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monica_Rambeau/pseuds/Monica_Rambeau
Summary: So it seems that the creators of Girl Meets World forgot to film some scenes for the finale. Don't worry, I fixed it.(or: My head canon for what was really happening during Girl Meets Goodbye.)





	

“Years from now, whenever anybody asks me ‘who was your first girlfriend,’ I will always answer Riley Matthews.” Lucas smiled at her warmly as he spoke, his tone betraying only love… and a sense of inevitability.

  
“And I will always answer Lucas Friar. I hope that you get to be a veterinarian someday.” Riley nudged him playfully with her shoulder as they sat on the steps outside of Topanga’s, her own warm smile brushed on her face.

  
Just like Lucas, she knew what conversation they were having.

  
“And I hope that, wherever you are…” Lucas said, “you get to keep being Riley.” He meant every word of it, and smiled as she put her arm around him, resting her head lightly on his shoulder. It was the end of a relationship, but not of a friendship… and it was in the spirit of that friendship that Lucas spoke next. His words were quiet, his mouth only inches from Riley’s ear as they rested their heads together.

  
“And Riley… if you are leaving,” he said, “you shouldn’t spend your time here with me.” He’d expected the words to be harder to say, but again… there was an inevitability to it all. Looking back, he realized he’d been preparing these words since she fell into his lap.

  
“You should be with the person you’re really in love with.”

  
Riley didn’t move, but her eyes opened wider. Not with shock or disgust, not with confusion or embarrassment, but with understanding. The words had barely left his mouth and she knew exactly what they meant. Her shoulders eased, as if a tension had been released that she never knew was there. Everything made sense.

  
“Lucas…” she whispered, full of compassion for this boy who had been her first everything, but was never meant to be her last.

  
“It’s ok, Riley. I love you both, and I want you both to be happy.” He meant what he’d said the other day, that they gave him hope. Now, he figured, it was time to give some back.

  
Riley’s eyes watered but no tears escaped. Even when they were breaking up, he could still be her hero.

  
“Thank you,” she said.

  
They both felt it the instant Maya walked out. Riley turned with a peaceful, knowing smile, finally ready for what came next.

  
“Bay window?” The request was soft and small, two adjectives never before applied to Maya’s voice.

  
The response was sure and sweet. “Bay window right now,” Riley said, rising from the steps.

  
Lucas clasped his hands, knowing that it was his time to exit. He gave Maya a smile as she passed on her way to Riley. The two held hands in that effortless way that he could never manage with either of them and headed to their sanctuary.

  
As they left, Lucas looked after them with one last moment of regret. But then he smiled a small smile.

  
And he hoped for them, selflessly… like Riley had taught him to.

\----

“Your turn now?” Auggie turned to his sister, offering their spot back to them. He’d only borrowed it to talk with Ava because, well… that was where you talked with people you loved.

  
“Yeah,” answered Riley, her hand on Mayas’ as they held arms, “but I don’t think that we can do any better than that.”

  
Maya’s eyes were already red, tears pooling as she shook her head to agree. She tousled Auggie’s hair as he and Ava left before taking her spot in the bay window next to her best friend.

  
For an eternal moment she couldn’t bring herself to look at Riley. She looked everywhere else, taking in every inch of the room that she’d grown up in. The room where she’d been put back together. Her home.

  
Finally, she mustered the courage to turn to face her friend. Her safe place. Her home.

  
It had only just become real a few moments ago. She’d kept herself numb to it, as much as she could, a technique she’d perfected over years of disappointment. But when it finally came, the realization that her home might be leaving her…

  
She was broken all over again.

  
“Maya?”

  
Maya thought of a million things to say in that instant. Confessions, appreciation, waves of pure sorrow, any of them could have flooded out as she met Riley’s impossibly brown eyes. But they didn’t. None of them seemed right. None of the million things she could have yelled or cried or laughed seemed like enough. So she chose the hardest one to say. The one that she feared the most.

  
“Goodbye, Riley.”

  
“No!” Riley grabbed her friend, pulling her as close as it was possible to be, desperate to save her from the sadness in her eyes. Maya’s happiness had always been everything for Riley, and the depth of her pain in that moment broke her heart.

  
They stayed like that, holding each other close as they cried for what seemed like hours. Neither moved, neither loosened their grip, fearing that the other would disappear.

  
At last, Maya raised her head. Her breathing was strained, but controlled. She wiped ineffectually at her eyes, trying to stem the raging rivers.

  
“Riley,” she managed, “if… if you’re really leaving…” She breathed deeply, steeling herself. She was broken again… but she’d been taught how to put herself back together.

“If you’re really leaving, there’s something I have to—“

  
“Peaches.” Her interruption was like a song.

  
“No, I… you have to know. No secrets.” With the last word Maya dropped her head, ashamed. “You have to—“

  
“Maya.” This one wasn’t a song. It wasn’t weak or small or sad. Riley said her name as if it was the first time it had ever been said, and even without her fingers guiding her chin Maya would have turned in awe to face her.

  
But Riley’s fingers were there, holding onto Maya’s wide stare before pulling her into a kiss.

  
There were no fireworks, no bolts of lightning, no earthquakes. Instead, their lips meeting sent the most euphoric wash of relief through their entire bodies. It was as if every moment before the kiss had been wrong or broken, and now this single soul, cruelly split between two girls, was whole at last.

  
The embrace was effortless in its’ passion, and when they finally broke apart they could do nothing but laugh, foreheads resting together. They laughed out every burden they’d ever felt, every wall that had ever existed between them, for the final one was down. They touched each other everywhere, instinctively, exploring this newfound freedom as they giggled and cried without reserve.

  
Everything was finally exactly right.

  
“How, heh…” Maya said at last, lost in her brown eyes, “How long have you known?”

  
Riley thought for a moment. “I guess… I think I’ve always known, but… it wasn’t until Lucas said something while we were breaking up that…” She smiled brighter than she knew she could. “… everything made sense. It seems so obvious, now.”

  
“I know, right?!” Maya yelled, grabbing Riley’s smile and kissing it over and over. When she was done they embraced, burying their faces into each other.

  
“When did you know?” Riley asked into Maya’s neck. She pulled back to let her answer, their hands and legs still woven together.

  
“Aha.” She was still giggling, wiping away tears. “At the ski lodge.”

  
Riley looked surprised. “But… that was… you…”

  
“Your Uncle Boing isn’t as smart as he thinks he is,” she laughed, nodding. “He thought he was helping me understand why I didn’t like Lucas, and he was… But not for the reason he thought.” Her eyes grew distant as she remembered. “In that moment, talking through it with him, I just… got it. I love you, I always have and you love me. And, well,” she shrugged, “when you love someone, you want them to be happy. So I cut Ranger Rick loose and un-angled the triangle.”

  
“But… you did that for me?” Riley was floored.

  
“What,” Maya smirked, “did I kiss the brains out of your head?” She grabbed the back of Riley’s neck and kissed her again. “I would do anything for you. And even if you were with Huckleberry, I still got to have you. Just… not the way I wanted.”

  
Riley’s empathetic frown blossomed into the purest smile the bay window had ever seen.

“Well, now you have me, Maya Hunter. Every way.”

  
As she spoke, Maya’s face dropped just as fast as Riley’s had risen. “Yeah…” She inched back, looking down. “For now.”

  
All at once it came crashing back to Maya. The last few minutes, the best moments of her entire life… They were a goodbye.

  
The tears threatened to return as she held back a choking sob. But then she felt her hand. She felt the firm, sure grip of her favorite person in the world, and when she looked up she saw the most peaceful, loving gaze she could imagine.

  
“I’m not going.” Riley’s words were not defiant or scared or even hopeful. They were simply true.

  
“Riles,” Maya offered, “Your mom hasn’t—“

  
“Did you know that her parents moved her to Pittsburgh when she was in high school?”

  
Maya faltered. “Who, your mom?”

  
“Yeah,” Riley said, smiling. “They moved her away from my dad, but… but she ran away. She ran back to him, and she found a way to stay with him. They haven’t been apart since.”

  
Maya looked at the girl she loved with a mixture of awe and pity.

  
“Honey… you can’t leave your family…”

  
Riley clasped Maya’s hands tighter.

  
“You know how much I love my family.” Even as the tears came, her sure smile never wavered an inch. “But Maya…”

  
She put her hand on Maya’s heart, then placed Maya’s hand on hers.

  
“This is… a miracle. You and me… this is actual magic in the actual world. Everything I sing and dance and squeal and yay about, everything that everyone makes fun of me for believing in…” She stared deep into Maya’s perfect blue eyes. “… this is it. Do you know how lucky we are?”

  
Before that moment, Maya Hunter was sure that she couldn’t love Riley Matthews any more than she did. She was wrong.

  
“We’re soulmates, Maya. And there is no way I’m giving you up… not when I just got you!”

  
Maya thought of a million things to say in that instant. Lectures, rants, speeches about hope and the suckers it’s made for, any of them could have flooded out as she met Riley’s impossibly brown eyes. But they didn’t. None of them seemed right. None of the million things she could have yelled or cried or laughed seemed like enough. So she chose the easiest one to say. The one that she couldn’t hold back, even if she’d wanted to. The truest one she had.

  
“I love you so much, Riley.”

  
Riley’s sure smile finally broke into a grateful laugh. She cried the happiest tears she could.

  
“I’ve loved you my whole life, Maya.”

  
They kissed, and then fell into each other.

There, in the bay window, they lay tangled together, as nature had always intended them to be.

  
Until the door opened.

  
“Girls?” They had no idea how long they’d been there like that, but it was dark out now.

  
“Dad?” Riley answered.

  
Cory smiled at the sight of them.

  
“It’s time. She’s made her decision.”

\-----

“This,” Topanga said, holding back tears, “is my bay window. And I’m not leaving it!” She squeezed a smiling Auggie as she laughed, letting the tears come.

  
Years from then, when recalling that moment, both Riley and Maya would swear that they heard cheers and applause when she said that.

  
But at that moment, all they heard was that they got to stay together. That there was no impossible choice to make, no heartbreaking goodbye to anyone. They’d found each other, truly, finally, and life was letting them be happy.

  
Even as Cory gloated about his brilliant wife, the girls knew there were no words to express their feelings.

  
“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

  
They screamed. They screamed and they smiled. They screamed out the last tensions holding them back from happiness and the new adventure they were on together. The relief in that scream felt exactly like their first kiss, only hours ago.

  
In fact, it felt so much like their first kiss that, when they were finished screaming, they kissed again, long and hard and desperately.

  
It wasn’t until they pulled away from each other that they remembered where they were and who they were with. An instant of worry crossed both of their minds… until they saw the wide eyes and wider smiles on the faces of Riley’s parents. Those faces, absolutely surprised but beaming with pride and love, washed away every fear they might have had about sharing their new relationship. The room lingered in that joyful state, everyone frozen, until the wisest among them broke the silence.

  
“FINALLY!” screamed Auggie. “It took you long enough!”

  
They all erupted in laughter, collapsing into one giant hug full of happy tears and the unmistakable feeling that their family was truly complete.

\-----

“Well, this is what I get for coming to school early.”

  
Maya leaned her head much further back than it should have been able to lean as she sat at her desk, whining into a nearly empty room. Mr. Matthews had asked the six of them to report to his classroom before first period. For what, none of them seemed sure. All Maya was sure of was that, if not for the company, this entire day would already have been blown.

  
“And we’re the only ones here! Never again. I’m coming in late every day for the rest of the year, just to make up for this.”

  
Riley grabbed her hand. “How did we beat him here? He was gone when we woke up this morning.”

  
Maya perked up, smiling. “I’m sorry, when what happened?”

  
Riley smiled back, squeezing her hand. “Maya, we’ve woken up together before. We’ve slept in the same bed a thousand times.”

  
“No no no no no no no! This wasn’t me waking up in your bed, or you waking up in mine.” She stood up, grinning like a maniac. “We woke up… together! We’re together, and we woke up that way!”

  
Riley hopped up to join her. “Yeah, you know what? That is exciting! Everything we do together is even together-y-er now!”

  
Maya couldn’t stop herself from squishing her girlfriend’s face and kissing her. When their smiles parted, she kept holding on, staring at her.

  
“Is every day gonna feel like this, Riles?”

  
“Forever,” Riley whispered as she leaned in again. Their lips were an inch apart when they heard the footsteps from the doorway. They turned quickly to face their source.

  
“Lucas!” They said his name together.

  
He stood there in the door for a moment, mouth agape, betraying nothing. The entire triangle stood transfixed, staring at each other as they had in so many awkward standoffs before.

  
“I…” Lucas paused, leaving just enough time for the girls to panic inside a little.

  
Then he took a deep breath, bringing his easy smile to his face.

  
“… am so happy for you guys.” And to even his surprise, he truly was.

  
“Really?” Riley stepped forward, ready to break into a guilt-ridden cry at the drop of a cowboy hat.

  
“Riley, I meant what I said yesterday. I love you both…” He looked over to Maya, still tensed, and smiled. “… and no one makes you two happier than each other. Took me a little time to catch on to that, but when I did… well, who am I to stand in the way of true love?”

  
Riley couldn’t do anything but glow gratefully at him. This could have been a nightmare, but after everything he was still Lucas.

  
“Hey, Huckleberry!” Maya, finally unfrozen, looped around behind the Texan.

  
“Ma’am?” He smiled, tipping his invisible hat.

  
“I, um…” As she looked up at him, her anxiety at the situation melted away.

  
“You gave me your girl,” she said, all irony gone.

  
Lucas chuckled. “Maya, she’s always been your girl. I just…” He turned back to Riley. “… kept her safe until you were ready.”

  
Maya breathed deep, then wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back.

  
“Thank you, Lucas.” She spoke into his chest.  
He released her and raised his hands upward.

  
“What are friends for?”

  
Maya smiled at the callback just as Riley moved next to them, shaking up and down with a painfully restrained expression.

  
Maya and Lucas smiled lovingly, both rolling their eyes.

  
“Let it out,” they said together.

  
Riley squeezed the three of them together as tightly as she could.

  
“YYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!!!”

  
“Ooooh! Is this a ‘Riley’s not leaving’ hug?!”

  
Zay’s voice pulled their attention to the doorway again to see him enter with Farkle and Smackle. They smiled wide in answer.

  
“Oh, then I’m gettin’ in on this!” Zay yelled as he hugged the trio.

  
“Me too!” Farkled said as he joined in.

  
“I’ll watch!” added Smackle with equal enthusiasm.

  
The friends all laughed together until Maya begged for air. The hug quickly separated, leaving only Maya and Riley holding each other.

  
A moment passed and Farkle cocked his head.

  
“Is that the… only thing we’re celebrating?” he prodded.

  
Riley and Maya laughed, grabbing each other tighter. Rather than answer, they kissed.

  
“FINALLY!” screamed Farkle.

  
“It took you long enough!” yelled Zay.

  
“Wait… they weren’t dating before?” asked Smackle.

  
“No, but they are now,” said a familiar voice from the doorway. “And it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Cory Matthews beamed at his daughter. She smiled back, proudly holding her girlfriend.

  
The group gathered in front of Mr. Matthew’s desk, and no one noticed that Maya never let Riley’s hand out of hers. It seemed as natural as ever.

  
“Belgium, 1831…”

\-----

“Big world?”

  
“Ours now.” It was no longer a question.

  
“People are gonna come in and out of our lives…” Riley’s eyes, holding back tears, searched the air around her. “Who knows where we’re all going to end up? Who knows if the decisions we’re gonna make are right or wrong?”

  
Maya saw her falter, just a little. Looking out at a new world in front of them, new challenges… it would make anyone scared.

  
Luckily, someone had taught Maya how to be brave enough for two people.

  
“Promise me this?” Riley asked, softly.

  
“Ok.”

  
“Time and distance have no power over us. You and I are together for as long as we live.”

  
Maya stared into her girlfriends’ infinite brown eyes. In those eyes she saw a thousand nights of laughter, a thousand days of adventure. She saw new houses and new bay windows, each one a safe place, a home, because she was there. She saw success and failure, triumph and setbacks, but always a hand to hold. Always someone to hope for, and to hope for her. She saw art and parties, never-ending friendships and the patter of klutzy little feet on hardwood floors.

  
She saw as long as we live, and the ‘we’ made it perfect.

  
Maya stared into her soulmate’s infinite brown eyes and said the only thing she could. The only thing that mattered.

  
“Thunder.”

  
Riley smiled and grabbed her hand.

  
“Lightning.”

  
“Done.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey look, my first fanfic! 
> 
> Comments and reviews are greatly appreciated! 
> 
> Because I have issues letting things go, I've written three more "episodes" taking place after this story. I'm gonna post the next one in a week, so if you liked this then good news! There's more a'comin'!


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